Thanks to you

Because of your expressions of thanks, Bank of America is donating $1 million to nonprofits that help veterans transition back to civilian life. See how this contribution helps veterans in their lives here at home.

I found myself in Iraq in 2005. I was critically injured after about a year. 13 surgeries, just years of rehab.

I did get hurt down range. Uh, an IDF went off, um, a little ways from us and I just got the repercussions from it but it threw me back on my back.

We got hit on August 22nd, 2004. Three of us were wounded. Everything was quiet until then. And then every mission we would engage in a firefight somewhere somehow. Uh, rockets, mortars, everything.

But there are young men and women out there every day in foreign lands, um, getting injured, getting wounded. Or, maybe no physical wounds, but those are invisible wounds of war.

I think my family and friends noticed it way before I did. I just started feeling really lonely, really depressed.

You know even when I got back, and got redeployed from Iraq, um, it took me a good while to get back to normal.

So the Wounded Warrior Project, they helped me a lot, and they really basically got me back out to the world.

Home Base is one of many organizations nationally that Welcome Back Veterans assists. Bank of America really takes a legitimate step forward and goes beyond just a verbal thank you, and then backs it up with the finances to support the programs that, in turn, support our veterans.

That enables up to get out and speak to the community, and break down the stigma of post-traumatic stress.

Being able to offer the latest technologies and the most advanced treatments for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.

The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors. Our organization allows warriors to engage with one another and realize they are not alone. It allows them to have a better relationship with their families back home and allows them to move into a new career. Our programs and services provide them with new skills and training. The money that Bank of America gives to the Wounded Warrior Project is saving lives.

I think what’s really powerful is being able to see them make a transition into the next step in their lives, whether it be going back to school, going into the workplace, or starting a family.

I think the Bank of America’s Express Your Thanks Campaign has had a tremendous impact on the moralities of young men and women who are over there fighting.

Whether their active duty or a transition, or veterans, or retired or what, but we want to say thanks to them for all that their doing and all that they’ve done.

This is an opportunity for the public to say thank you to the troops that are serving. And for everyone that does that, Bank of America will generously donate a dollar.Come on over guys! Help support our troops today! Let Bank of America donate one dollar on your behalf. All you have to do is take a picture!

I see all of these strangers who I’ve never met stopping to say thank you. It makes me feel humble and even more proud of what I have done.

It means the world to us because we know that there’s people out there that actually care.

It’s never gotten, old. I’ve never taken it for granted. Each time it really has just helped, helped me recover.

military-hiring-vid-hpdefaultPlayertrueblack/assets/images/Military/Military_Hiring_Video_878x494.jpg|Soldier putting on tie|This year alone, 250,000 service members will transition out of the military. ||

Alex Rolinski: My service will always be with me..it’s a big part of my life obviously.

Lacy Dodd Miske: Every time you get in that seat of the helicopter, you really think to yourself, this could be it. I don’t know if this is gonna be the last time or not. As much as I hated being away from my daughter, I was grateful that I was gonna be able to be a part of the mission.

Franklin Robinson: There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like it. I don’t care what walk of life, skin color, um you know sexual preference…no matter what it is. We all came together and we were supporting each other. I’m never going to forget it, and that’s what I love about the Marines.

Alex Rolinski: It’s it’s almost like a separate chapter..so you picture like Alex as Army Alex and then Alex as Banker Alex. It’s two different people almost, because the experiences you go through but yet you carry some of that over into what you do in the civilian world.

Lacy Dodd Miske: When you get out of the military, it’s like you lose a part of your identity. You lose a part of who you were.

Franklin Robinson: You know, it’s kind of scary coming to uh civilian life not knowing what you’re gonna do.

Alex Rolinski: You run into challenges, like for instance if something breaks on a helicopter and we’re flying in the middle of nowhere..that’s a problem. But you adapt to that challenge. Similar in this environment, there’s constant challenges that we face. There’s no two days that are the same.

Lacy Dodd Miske: I was a Logistics Officer in the U.S. Army, and now I’m in Transportation Services where we manage armored carriers who bring the cash to the banking centers and the ATMs.

Lewis Runnion: Bank of America has over 26 military support and assistance groups. We use those as an employee network, we also use them to help in our transition and retention programs in the Bank to create that culture, if you will, to help the transition be much smoother back into the civilian world.

Franklin Robinson: Cuz when you go somewhere like overseas and you get deployed, you’re not sure if you’re going to come back or not. Once you get back, you know now to take advantage of every opportunity you have.

Lacy Dodd Miske: You learn that it’s the little things that you appreciate. You love a good home cooked meal, you love just snuggling with your child.

Franklin Robinson: I love my son. I keep him with me all the time. He doesn’t leave my side.

Alex Rolinski: Taking the kids bowling, those types of things..family activities that, you know things you don’t get to share over there.

Lewis Runnion: Today I’m proud to say that we’ve employed nearly 7,000 veterans, and we’ve made a commitment to hire an additional 10,000 veterans over the coming years.

Alex Rolinski: Bank of America has a great work life balance, so they’re very attentive to your home life and your family. Life is great, yea. I mean it wouldn’t have been possible, like I said, had I not gained what I had from the military and what Bank of America has been able to do for me. It’s just phenomenal. It’s all around a great story.

This year alone, 250,000 service members will transition out of the military. /en-us/partnering-locally/commitment-to-employing-military-service-members.htmlGet the whole storybankofamerica1359940|enter782|2014_460Proud to connect thousands of veterans to meaningful careers here at home./en-us/partnering-locally/commitment-to-employing-military-service-members.html_self1359940|enter782|2014_859||1359940|enter782|2014_581||1359940|enter782|2014_00||

military-home-donationdefaultPlayertrueblack/assets/images/Military/military_home_donations_878x494.jpg|Retired Army Sergeant 1st Class Don Chandler and his family|Veteran honored for his service to our country and receives keys to mortgage-free home||

Don Chandler: My name is Don Chandler. I served 22 years in the United States Army. I did three tours in Iraq. I wanted to follow in I guess family footsteps..from my grandparents, my uncles, my dad..all served in the military. So, I wanted to give back to my country.

Nancy Chandler: He has earned two purple hearts. He’s got a bronze star with valor, another bronze star.

Don Chandler: I’d do it again. I’d do it all again. I grew up with my father. He did not want me to go through the things that he had gone through when he came home from Vietnam. I had come home from Iraq and it was very overwhelming.

Nancy Chandler: We do have five children. We have 10 grandchildren. We were literally living payday to payday. There was just never that opportunity to be able to save for a down payment.

Casey Kinser: Our mission is to support our nation’s wounded heroes as their transitioning out of the military and into their new civilian life and that’s a difficult transition for many. We’re seeing a lot of veterans being separated from the military and they’ve got a lot of significant needs, especially housing, which is a focus of ours.

John Stein: Today what we’re gathered around is to give away a home to a military veteran and his wife and family. Its particularly poignant because this is the 1000th house that Bank of America has given back to the community. Welcome Sergeant First Class Don Chandler, his wife Gail, their kids and grandkids into a mortgage free home.

Don Chandler: Just walking through that front door and seeing her face light up, you know, there’s just no words, there’s no price tag you can put on that. She has been the foundation for me for many a years. She’s just as much a part of my career as I was. She’s the backbone of it.

Gail Chandler: Everything that they incorporated..it’s us..every little detail, it was just perfect.Lewis Runnion: To see the looks on the family’s face and to talk to them about how this home will change their lives is an amazing experience.

Casey Kinser: The relationship that Military Warriors Support Foundation has with Bank of America is incredible. We could not do this without their help.

Nancy Chandler: We would have never been able to afford it on our own. It allows people like us that second chance.

Don Chandler: It’s home. It’s a place we can see our grandkids grow up and create memories with them. I love it.

Let’s go home.

Veteran honored for his service to our country and receives keys to mortgage-free home/en-us/partnering-locally/1000th-military-home-donation.htmlbankofamerica1359940|enter782|2014_460/en-us/partnering-locally/1000th-military-home-donation.html_self1359940|enter782|2014_859||1359940|enter782|2014_581||1359940|enter782|2014_00||

fan-cavedefaultPlayertrueblack/assets/images/Military/Fan_Cave_878x494.jpg|Three men smiling|A Yankees legend takes three winners on a baseball tour of New York||

Proudly supported by Bank of America, “Welcome Back Veterans” is an organization designed to aid the hundreds of thousands of veterans after returning from fields of combat overseas. Army National Guard Staff Sergeants Jonathan Morrison and Douglas Incarnacion, along with US Army Sergeant Damien Pitters were treated to a special baseball tour.

As the Director of Military Affairs for Bank of America, I couldn’t be more proud to welcome you here. As an army veteran myself, I am very proud of the services you’ve given to our country. So, welcome, let’s have a great time.

Cleanest subway in all of New York. Right here.

There’s no one singing in there.

Yeah, (laugh), no singing.

We like to come here and have a good time.

This is one cave I wouldn’t mind being trapped in.

This is man cave guys.

Baseball came together in 2000 to form Baseball Advanced Media and here we are 14 years later and we’ve advanced quite a bit from that. So I’ll show you some of the stuff that we’re doing. This is our social media room.

We run all social media for Major League Baseball from this spot. Every team has a person as well but we coordinate with the clubs what goes up on the club accounts and on the MLB accounts.

That’s outstanding.

#troopthanks

We’ve reached the heartbeat.

This is what we call a TOC or a transmissions operations center. And this gives us terrific vision on all of our events and what’s coming through.

Look that’s where we just were. It’s like looking into the past.

Gentleman, welcome to the New York Yankees museum presented by Bank of America. This is where we get to tell some of the great stories of Yankees history, talk about some of our greatest games, greatest players, our greatest moments. Shall we take a look around?

Yes sir.

Totally.

What’s it like seeing your stuff on display in a museum?

It’s amazing to me because to see my picture inside Yankee Stadium anywhere, or the suite 24…I see it all the time and I really appreciated that when the stadium opened. But now to see it like this inside the displays, it’s something I could never dream of playing for the Yankees so it’s awesome.

You won the homerun derby that year too.

Yeah. I won in ’97. I hit the uh, shortest distance of homeruns though but I hit the most.

You’re just being efficient.

They were just getting over the wall.

You’re being efficient. Efficiency.

We saved our jerseys on this ’98 team and on the flight home from San Diego we just went around the airplane and got everyone to sign our jerseys.

Oh cool.

Gentleman, welcome to Monument Park. I like to call this baseball’s most exclusive fraternity. This is where the greatest players in Yankees history are honored here with plaques, with retired numbers, and with monuments.

This is all because you guys fight for us. We wouldn’t be able to play baseball and all that if you guys didn’t do what you did. This is great, but what you all day, thank you all very much for your service as well. It’s awesome that you all do that. I appreciate it so much. Thank you.

Army National Guard Staff Sergeants Jonathan Morrison and Douglas Incarnacion along with US Army Sergeant Damien Pitters, were treated to a special baseball day proudly supported by Bank of America.

A Yankees legend takes three winners on a baseball tour of New Yorkbankofamerica1359940|enter782|2014_460_self1359940|enter782|2014_859||1359940|enter782|2014_581||1359940|enter782|2014_00||

wes-moore-exclusive-clip-chrisdefaultPlayertrueblack/assets/images/Military/ComingBack-Exclusive_Clips_878x494.jpg|Wes Moore|Rejoining the workforce is always a challenge. In this bonus clip, Chris explains his journey.||

Coming Back Exclusive Content TranscriptChristopher Phelan

Sgt. Christopher Phelan (retired), U.S. MarinesOn fitting back into the workforce

Christopher: I was able to find an office job nine to five, uh, doing executive recruiting, head hunting and I, it wasn’t a good cultural fit and it was a little bit unfortunate. Just I couldn’t stand it really, stuck inside behind a desk and um, all the people there are very nice, very understanding and I tried to make friends but I just couldn’t develop that same bond. It was like speaking a different language.

On putting his military experience to work

Christopher: The skill set that I had developed in the military, drastically helped me out in the police force. And I was able to do kind of similar things. Going on patrol, interacting with people and trying to do the right thing whether you’re going to call it justice, law or following orders.

Rejoining the workforce is always a challenge. In this bonus clip, Chris explains his journey.1359940|enter782|2014_460Rejoining the workforce is always a challenge. In this bonus clip, Chris explains his journey._self1359940|enter782|2014_859||1359940|enter782|2014_581||1359940|enter782|2014_00||/assets/images/Military/People-Thumbs-1.jpgChris Phelan

wes-moore-exclusive-clip-taylordefaultPlayertrueblack/assets/images/Military/ComingBack-Exclusive_Clips_878x494.jpg|Wes Moore|Brian explains where he’s found the strength to heal in this exclusive video.||

Coming Back Exclusive Content Transcript(Brian) Taylor Urrela

Sgt. Brian Taylor (retired), U.S. Army

On what recreational softball offersTaylor: It's not about … it's about how it makes me feel. It makes me feel like I'm me again. It makes me feel like I have two legs, it makes me feel like nothing ever happened, you know. Out there on the field I'm better than a lot of the guys you know I'm … in softball, you know obviously not baseball but you know I'm uh, I'm a good player and uh, for people to see that you know, they have these expectations of me. One way you know, they see the leg and then they see me out there and every game it's people are like, “What the hell man. Like that's awesome,” and that's … it uh, it helps me. It helps me get through you know, everything. It helps me feel normal again and, and I mean it definitely does more good for me than it does bad. I can deal with the pain.

On sports as healingTaylor: It's just really, it's really important to have an active, engaging, activity for veterans to do once they're home because I think a lot of guys you know they, they resort to sulking on the couch and thinking about the old days and wondering where their life should be and where it could have been and stuff like that. And you know we … it's happened time and time again, we have these guys that that you know, haven't left their room, haven't left their couch and, and now they're playing softball every week. You know, and it's start small, you know, they come out once and build from there.

Brian explains where he’s found the strength to heal in this exclusive video.1359940|enter782|2014_460Brian explains where he’s found the strength to heal in this exclusive video._self1359940|enter782|2014_859||1359940|enter782|2014_581||1359940|enter782|2014_00||/assets/images/Military/People-Thumbs-3.jpg(Brian) Taylor Urrela

wes-moore-exclusive-clip-letricedefaultPlayertrueblack/assets/images/Military/ComingBack-Exclusive_Clips_878x494.jpg|Wes Moore|What’s the best way to thank a veteran? Latrice gives her perspective in this exclusive clip.||

Coming Back Exclusive Content TranscriptLetrice Titus

Staff Sgt. Letrice Titus, U.S. Army Reserves

On how to say thank you

Letrice: For me, a simple “thank you for your service.” sums up everything. You don’t know if that veteran was deployed. You don’t know if that veteran lost battle buddies while deployed. You don’t know if that veteran is suffering from a mental health issue. You don’t know what that veteran is going through, but you, being a civilian, recognizing a veteran and taking time to say “thank you for your service” that means a lot. Means a lot. It really does.

On doing even more

Letrice: Any veteran organizations, the wounded warrior project, you know…you could donate to that. Any initiative in the community that’s you know geared to supporting veterans. You know, that’s another way that you could reach out and you know to say “thank you for your service”. The end result is still “thank you”.

What’s the best way to thank a veteran? Latrice gives her perspective in this exclusive clip.1359940|enter782|2014_460What’s the best way to thank a veteran? Latrice gives her perspective in this exclusive clip._self1359940|enter782|2014_859||1359940|enter782|2014_581||1359940|enter782|2014_00||/assets/images/Military/People-Thumbs-2.jpg Letrice Titus

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